PATIENT

EXOGEN Heals Shattered Arm

The below case study is representative of an indicated use for EXOGEN outside the United States and may not be representative of a US FDA approved indication for the use of EXOGEN.

Situation:James Curtis, his wife and pet cat make their home in Verdun, Quebec, which is a suburb of Montreal. For 32 years, he’s been working as night manager and night auditor for businesses in the area. Then in July 2016, when James was three weeks into a new job as a night manager at a local hotel, he fell into some trouble – literally. After getting off the bus to work James was walking along a sidewalk when he stepped into a rather deep hole that was hard to see in the dark.

“It was unexpected and I went up in the air and landed hard on my arm,” remembers James. “I knew it was broken and I had never experienced so much pain.”

After an ambulance trip to the hospital and an X-ray, James learned that his humerus was broken and that below his elbow, the ulna and radius were shattered.

X-ray of James Curtis’ fractures.

“On a ratings scale, my satisfaction with EXOGEN is at 10-plus!”

“A surgeon was called in at 4:30 that morning and said that he had never seen anything so bad in his 35 years of practicing medicine,” said James. “He told me they would have to operate within the next eight hours or I would lose mobility in my arm.”

The surgery lasted 4 ½ hours and two days later as he was recovering, a second surgeon on the hospital staff visited him and advised the first surgery hadn’t gone as well as they had hoped. James was advised that he would need additional surgery and it would take place later that day. This second
surgery lasted another 3 ½ hours.

James Curtis

Solution:After two weeks of recovery in the hospital, James was discharged. Even though he was severely injured, he went back to work.

“I was in tremendous pain and in a cast, but I decided to get back to my job,” said James. “I had just started the new job prior to the accident. They loved what I was doing and told me to come back when I was ready. It was very motivating.”

At this same time, his doctor prescribed the EXOGEN Ultrasound Bone Healing System to help heal the bones in his arm and advised him to begin physical therapy. James met with a Quebec-based Bioventus sales representative who fit him with the device and showed him where to place the unit on his fracture sites to ensure it would stimulate bone healing.

“I had never heard of EXOGEN, but per my doctor’s instructions I began using it in late August,” said James. “They told me the arm would never return to normal and I accepted that, but I was determined to get my arm to heal as best I could. So I made sure I used it every day.”

The portability and ease of use of EXOGEN made that goal very achievable for James. “It was so simple to use and fit treatments into my day,” he said.

Success:During the first hours after his second surgery, James was told he had three times the amount of metal in his arm compared to a typical patient. He wondered about his new job, caring for his wife and if he would ever be able to use his arm again.

However, he would not accept defeat. He got to work healing his fractures with help from EXOGEN.

“My cast came off just before Christmas and I have continued daily treatments into the first few weeks of 2017,” said James “I still have some issues related to range of motion, but am so happy my arm is movable. I feel like I have 70-75% of the mobility I had prior to the accident.”

On top of that, in a February 2017 visit with his doctor he learned the fractures in the arm were 99% fully healed.

“On a ratings scale, my satisfaction with EXOGEN is at 10-plus,” said James.

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